1. O! how I faint when I of you do write,
2. Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,
3. And in the praise thereof spends all his might,
4. To make me tongue-tied speaking of your fame.
5. But since your worth, wide as the ocean is,
6. The humble as the proudest sail doth bear,
7. My saucy bark, inferior far to his,
8. On your broad main doth wilfully appear.
9. Your shallowest help will hold me up afloat,
10. Whilst he upon your soundless deep doth ride;
11. Or, being wracked, I am a worthless boat,
12. He of tall building, and of goodly pride:
13. Then if he thrive and I be cast away,
14. The worst was this, my love was my decay.

The
questioning of the rival poet's position
continues. Here the poet portrays himself as a foolish boat sailing in
the
shallows, whereas the rival is a stately galleon on the wide open sea,
foreshadowing
the exclamatory question of 86, Was it the proud full sail of
his great
verse? However the content of the poem militates against
itself, for
the marine imagery gives it a sort of buoyancy which overturns its
declared
humility. In addition there are subtle innuendoes which undermine the
worthiness
of the rival, not least of which are the half hinted sexual meanings
which
give a touch of ribald mockery to the descriptions of the new poet.
'Perhaps
he is a proud galleon sailing on the sea of your generosity', it seems
to
say, 'but he has a big mouth, a big arse, and for all I know, a big
dick'.

THE 1609
QUARTO VERSION

80

O

How I faint when I
of you do
write,
Knowing a better ſpirit doth vſe your name,

And
in the praiſe thereof
ſpends all his might,
To make me toung-tide ſpeaking of your fame.
But ſince your worth( wide as the Ocean is )
The humble as the proudeſt ſaile doth beare,
My ſawſie barke ( inferior farre to his )
On your broad maine doth wilfully appeare.
Your ſhalloweſt helpe will hold me vp a floate,
Whilſt he vpon your ſoundleſſe deepe doth ride,
Or ( being wrackt ) I am a worthleſſe bote,
He of tall building,and of goodly pride.
Then If he thriue and I be caſt away,
The worſt was this,my loue was my decay.

1.
O! how I faint when I of you do write,

1. I am overcome with faintness
and diffidence
when I write of you (because a better spirit, person, poet, praises
you,
and makes my efforts look weak by comparison).

2. Knowing a better spirit doth use your name,

2.
a better spirit = a better poet. But
in view of what is stated in Sonnet 86, (which also uses the ship
imagery),
the spirit also refers to the supernatural influence which 'nightly
gulls
him with intelligence', 'him' being the rival poet. The rival poet is a
spirit who is possibly using demoniacal powers. use your name = uses you as inspiration, has
you as patron. See Sonnet
78: As every alien pen hath got my use, and the
note thereon.

3. And in the praise
thereof spends all his might,

3.
in the praise thereof = in praising
your name. spends all his might = expends all his
energies.

4. To make me tongue-tied
speaking of your fame.

4.
It is not clear if the speaker or the rival
poet is speaking of the youth's fame. Both meanings are acceptable, for
the syntax allows either 'He makes me tongue tied when I
attempt
to publish your fame', or, 'He makes me tongue tied when he
starts publicising your fame and qualities'.

5. But since your worth, wide as the ocean is,

5.
The next two quatrains use a metaphor from
the sea, comparing the poets' flights of fancy and creation to ships
sailing
on the ocean - either small inferior barks, which the speaker modestly
and
humbly claims as an adequate description of himself, or else massive
galleons,
lofty and proud (and perhaps riding for a fall as the Spanish ships of
the
armada). But the ocean is the symbol and metaphor of the worthiness of
the
beloved and of his capacity to inspire his poets and admirers. It is on
that ocean that these metaphorical ships of poetry set sail.

6. The humble as the
proudest sail doth bear,

6.
sail = ship, vessel. See OED n.(1).4.a.

7. My saucy
bark, inferior far to his,

7.
My saucy bark = my impudent, foolhardy
boat. Continuing the sailing metaphor which depicts, or pretends to
depict,
the poetry of both contenders for the post of poet in residence. The
poet
claims that the ship he sails is nothing more than a ketch in
comparison
with that of his rival.

8.
On your broad main doth wilfully appear.

8.
your broad main = the vast open sea
that you, figuratively, are, for a poet looking for subject matter. main = open sea. wilfully = stubbornly, provocatively.

9. Your shallowest help
will hold me up afloat,

9.
I only need the shallowest water to remain
upright, which you easily can supply.

10. Whilst he upon your
soundless deep doth ride;

10.
He, being a ship of much deeper draught,
sails upon your open deep water. soundless = unable to be sounded. So deep that
the lead plummets
which the mariners use for taking soundings do not reach the bottom,
hence
such waters are effectively bottomless.

11. Or, being wracked, I am
a worthless boat,

11.
wracked = wrecked. An old spelling,
but still occasionally used today. Being homophonous with racked
it does suggest the torture the writer undergoes in his quest for the
youth's
loyalty.

12. He of tall building,
and of goodly pride:

12.
His is a stately boat, built very tall,
and consequently worth saving from shipwreck. There was a huge increase
in shipbuilding in the Elizabethan period, so these references would
have
had immediate relevance for many readers.

13. Then if he thrive and I be cast away,

13.
Then if he should thrive and I should be
cast away. thrive = prosper, come off safely. be cast away = be shipwrecked, thrown onto the
strand or shore. As
in Merchant of Venice:
.......................Antonio
Hath an argosy cast away coming from Tripolis. MV.III.1.105.

14. The worst was this, my love was my decay.

14.
The worst was this = the worst aspect
of the calamity would be this (that I now describe). my love was my decay = my love would have been
the cause of my fall
from grace, my ruin. decay = decline, loss of power, ruin. Used 11
times in the sonnets
(including decayed etc), of which typical is Sonn
13. Who lets
so fair a house fall to decay?